MPD releases video of three persons of interest in reference to alleged assault on Decorated Marine Vet. in Penn Quarter

“The Metropolitan Police Department seeks the public’s assistance in identifying and locating three persons of interest in reference to an Aggravated Assault and Robbery incident which occurred in the 900 block of E Street, Northwest, on Friday, February 12, 2016 at approximately 9:40 pm.

A victim was exiting a restaurant in the area when he was assaulted by suspect one. Suspect two then proceeded to take a wallet that carried a student identification card, credit cards and cash from the victim’s pocket. A third suspect also assaulted the victim. The suspects then fled the scene.

Anyone who has information regarding this case should call police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, information may be submitted to the TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.”

The saddest part about this are the people that just stand around (even after the culprits have fled) without even checking to see if the guy was okay. I can understand not wanting to jump into the fray for personal safety, but this is so cold and callous.

FYI, WaPo has information about a new rebate program offered by the DC government to offset the cost of installing surveillance cameras for residences:

By Peter Hermann February 18 at 8:14 AM 

The District on Wednesday launched a new crime-fighting program that offers residents rebates for installing security cameras on their properties.

Officials are implementing the program after the D.C. Council unanimously passed a bill in January authorizing the expenditures. The program officers a rebate of as much as $200 per camera, with a maximum of $500 for each residence and $750 for other addresses, such as businesses.

[Detailed information on rebates for surveillance cameras]

“The installation of private security cameras in the city is another step to deter crime and assist police during investigations,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said in a statement. “This innovative rebate program helps equip residents, small businesses, nonprofits and religious institutions with the tools they need to help prevent crime and identify suspects.”

Cameras have to be registered with the District. For more detailed information, visit the D.C. Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants. People can also call 202-727-5124.

Unfortunately, it appears the rebate only initially applies to a small number of Police Service Areas. I live in a slightly higher crime area of DC, and don’t qualify yet. If there is any money in the fund as of August 1st, city-wide residents can then apply for the rebate. Here is hoping there are leftover funds!

I’m no fan of the mayor, but let’s be clear: This is not “Bowser’s new crime deterrent program.” The bill was authored by Ward 5 rep Kenyan McDuffie and has unanimous endorsement from the Council. It’s not clear whether Bowser supports it–in fact she doesn’t sound too enthused. From the Post on Feb 7:
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“If the council gives final approval to the crime bill containing the stipend plan, it is not clear whether the mayor will fund or implement it. In her last statement on the bill, Bowser said in January that it “failed to include any provision to combat crime.” On Friday, her spokesman, Michael Czin, said that sentiment remains alive in the mayor’s office and the stipend plan is not a balanced approach to fighting crime.”

I still cannot understand the comments on all these similar posts that justify any of this behavior. As a human, why would you treat another human that way? on SOME level, I can see robbing someone (out of desperation, whatever…on some level.) But is that not enough? Do you need to go BACK to kick and punch them? They’ll grow up, have kids (or have kids before they’re grown up) who will likely behave the same way. I just cannot understand it. I hope this guy is OK but I don’t hold out much hope that they find the kids, or that if they do, they are actually punished at all.

I assume posters are referencing the alleged racially motivated angle which doesn’t seem apparent on this video. Not to say it didn’t happen, we only see a small piece right before the attack. Only a more thorough investigation can determine that. But, that wouldn’t necessarily be the kind of think you accidently misremember. Again, I’m not alleging the victim fabricated that part of the story, but just that it isn’t apparent from the small piece of video released.

The video does not show the victim sitting and eating at all, so it should be readily understood that the video contributes no information regarding the occurrence or the nature of any exchange between the victim and the attackers while the victim was sitting and eating. Hell, the video doesn’t show the victim entering the establishment at all, only exiting. Are we to believe that the victim never entered, only exited?

One of the strange things about DC criminal code is that when an incident that might normally be classified as a Simple Assault (misdemeanor) results in the victim being knocked unconscious, regardless of the injury the crime automatically gets classified as an Aggravated Assault (felony). The robbery, of course, is a felony as well. So, the key language in the incident report that made this an Aggravated Assault is the part about him being knocked unconscious.

Yeah, what Phil said. The video doesn’t purport to show any interactions before the assault, just (i) the assault itself and (ii) the enough other footage (terrible though it may be) of the perpetrators so people might be able to make an identification. There’s simply no basis to conclude from the video that the victim embellished anything. Good grief.

DC needs to find a better way to combat these juvenile gang assaults. The status quo is clearly not working. There should be an emergency legislation put forth to implement stepped up targeted police work and severe punishment. Too often juveniles are allowed to walk. In the past police are discouraged from even making arrests of juveniles because if feels like a waste of their time. REMEMBER that the arrests made in a recent violent incident on metro led to the arrests of kids that attended Wilson High School in upper NW. Is anyone else a little surprised that some of the kids are brought up in the wealthy parts of DC. This senseless violence needs to be addressed in the schools better, and it seems to have more to do with glamorized beat downs on social media then robbing people. Where do the parents responsibility weigh in here? Maybe there should be some accountability there. Very sad to hear these stories on a daily basis. I rarely hear stories about these kids being caught or punished.

“REMEMBER that the arrests made in a recent violent incident on metro led to the arrests of kids that attended Wilson High School in upper NW. Is anyone else a little surprised that some of the kids are brought up in the wealthy parts of DC”
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This is NOT true. Wilson High School students come from all over the district. (Although I had wealthy students in my not-in-DC high school who were totally horrible people too…)

OK. point taken. i did not realize that such a lare number of Wilson students were out-of-bounds. But it is still worth paying attention to the fact that some of these problem kids/gangs are schooled in the “better” high schools. There needs to be a lot more to address this in the schools. Schools like Wilson should certainly be more involved with the city in outreach programs and identifying kids in need of some type of intervention. I do believe that the system dealing with arrested juveniles is flawed in big ways, and i would like to see more evidence of juveniles that are actually punished for these violent crimes that are epidemic. Often there are no arrests in these types of assaults, and the arrests I usually hear of are high-profile cases where the public outcry. I think these kids will probably be caught, but I think that if this incident was not covered heavily on the news there would not be the response. What about the husband and father that was gang beaten the day before after removing his bike off a metro bus. Do you think that there is a similar response or determination to find those teens?

” I rarely hear stories about these kids being caught or punished.”
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It’s becoming more common, especially in cases involving video evidence, to hear of suspects being arrested. There have been arrests in a couple of the Metro attacks. It’s not so clear what happens after that. It would be great if there was some way to track these cases to see what happens after the arrests. It’s an article of faith on this and other listservs that juveniles don’t do jail time. I’ve not seen evidence one way or another.